Getting some good time on the Grand Mesa Over 6+ feet of snow. It was nuts driving up there last weekend 10' walls along the road leading to absolutely no parking. But they got it all pushed back and parking is great again. Friday 20 to 30 mph gusts ended my day early with a 10' lift and drop that trashed a binding on my board. Got some shots of my friend Todd on his Skies, he ended up flying a 3 and was still moving around pretty well. Got up early this morning and saw a flat line of 11mph winds for over 4 hrs, on Wind Alert got up there by 10 worn out completely by 2. Man am I out of shape. To much time pushing the RV around. Great day. Hey PDCK I'm good for lizard head any time you want to meet up. I'm seriously jonesing for some different kiting.

Noob kiter here... my first time out was on Turqoise Lake last Sunday. I have about 15 hours of water lessons behind me, but it was my first time on snow... alone too. I have a quick question.

Before I figured out I could pull on the middle lines then release them to get the kite to shoot back up in the air (I am on an Ozone Access 10m), the wind died down and I wasn't able to get it relaunched untill I figured that out.

I strapped out of my board and sunk down into about a foot of water on top of the ice below the powder. The ice seemed solid, but it scared the heck out of me.

One person I have talked to said this was normal, but I thought I would get a second opinion here, as he hadn't been kite boarding in a decade. With the recent heat wave, it makes me worry more. At what point in the season should I start to worry about how thick the ice is, and if it is too thin for kiteboarding?

Any advice is much appreciated!!!

If any kiters have Sunday/Monday off and live around Leadville (or Vail/Frisco), I would be down to go kiting with you!!! Kiting alone seems lonely/sketchy, but my love for the wind will get me out there alone anyways. Just as with kiteboarding on the water, after just one time on the snow.... I am hooked!!! I am looking to go kiting again on my next "weekend" (Sunday or Monday). The early forecast for Monday seems decent.

Noob kiter here... my first time out was on Turqoise Lake last Sunday. I have about 15 hours of water lessons behind me, but it was my first time on snow... alone too. I have a quick question.

Before I figured out I could pull on the middle lines then release them to get the kite to shoot back up in the air (I am on an Ozone Access 10m), the wind died down and I wasn't able to get it relaunched untill I figured that out.

I strapped out of my board and sunk down into about a foot of water on top of the ice below the powder. The ice seemed solid, but it scared the heck out of me.

One person I have talked to said this was normal, but I thought I would get a second opinion here, as he hadn't been kite boarding in a decade. With the recent heat wave, it makes me worry more. At what point in the season should I start to worry about how thick the ice is, and if it is too thin for kiteboarding?

Any advice is much appreciated!!!

If any kiters have Sunday/Monday off and live around Leadville (or Vail/Frisco), I would be down to go kiting with you!!! Kiting alone seems lonely/sketchy, but my love for the wind will get me out there alone anyways. Just as with kiteboarding on the water, after just one time on the snow.... I am hooked!!! I am looking to go kiting again on my next "weekend" (Sunday or Monday). The early forecast for Monday seems decent.

Water and slush under the snow but on top of 16" of ice is fairly common. Some people even ride with a mini ice scraper to knock it off when it freezes to your board. I'll probably be out on Lake Dillon the Sunday after this one.

kitejumping wrote:Water and slush under the snow but on top of 16" of ice is fairly common. Some people even ride with a mini ice scraper to knock it off when it freezes to your board. I'll probably be out on Lake Dillon the Sunday after this one.

Thanks for the info! I may be out there on Sunday/Monday too depending on the wind. Maybe I will see some of you guys out there.